Clutch mechanism.



No. 677,l77. Patented June 25, |901. R. A. CURDNER.

CLUTCH MECHANISH.

(Application led Apr. 2, 1900.) (Nulodel.)

l l l mz naam: PUE so. mamma.. wAsnmG'rmo. n.

llNrTnn STATES arent trice.

CLUTCH MECHANlSNI.

SPECIFICATION forming cf Letters Patent No. 677,177', dated J une 25,1901.

Application filed April 2,1900. Serial No. 11,227. N0 mOClGl-l To allwhom it' may concern:

Be it known that I, ROBERT ALLEN CORD- NER, a British subject, residingat 29 Alexandra road, Upper Norwood, London, England, have invented anew and useful Clutch Mechanism, (for which I have obtained a patent inGreat Britain, No. 24,703, bearing date January 20, 1900,) of which thefollowing is a specification.

This invention relates to clutch mechanism especially intended forconnection withcycles, and it is of such a character that a drivingmember or Wheel may be readily coupled to or uncoupled from the hub orshaft carrying the saine or the same result may be secured with eitherone of a plurality of driving members or wheels.

' The invention includes as one of its features a hub having a Wheel ordriving member freely rotative thereon, a clutch rotative with said hubfor coupling said wheel thereto, a second and laterally-movable wheelrotative with the hub, means to positively move said second wheelsidewise, and means actuated by said second wheel for moving the clutch.

ln the present case l provide a fixed casing having a plurality ofdiagonal slots and it houses a second casing freely slidable therein,said slidable casing coacting with the laterally-movablewheelabovementioned. This slidable casing has pins extending through the diagonalslots and it moves sidewise with the laterally-movable wheel, and whenit is turned through suitable means it is moved outward or inward, asthe case may be, through the agency of the pin-and-slot connection,thereby through the agency of suitable mechanism correspondinglyoperating thelaterally-movable wheel. Said wheel may be connected bymeans of one or more rods with the clutch, though this is'not essential.

The invention of course is in no wise limited to the constructionhereinafter described, for many simple changes may be made fully withinthe scope of the appended claims.

ln the drawings accompanying and forming part of this specification,Figurel is a longitudinal central section through the rearwheel hub andaxle, showing the hub with two driving members. Figs. 2 and 3 aretransverse sections in the lines 2 2 and 3 3, respectively, Fig. l. Fig.It shows a development of the flange of the fixed casing. Figs. 5 and 6are sections corresponding to Fig. 1, but showing only a portion of theaxle and hub and representing the clutch in its ineffective andeffective positions, respectively, and with a single driving member.

Like characters refer to like parts in all the figures of the drawings.

Referring to Fig. l, two sprocket-wheels are shown atp and q, they beingfreely rotative on the rear-wheel hub d of a cycle and beingheld inplace against lateral Inovennent by collars, as e and n, respectively.rihese sprocket-wheels running loose on the hub d and capable,therefore, of rotation in opposite directions thereon are adapted to bealternately coupled to said hub by a clutch,

as fr.

In Fig. l the clutch is shown as occupying its intermediate andineffective position. Said clutch is shown as consisting of a Wheelslidable on the hub and having oppositelydisposed teeth, as S, on itsfaces adapted to enter Yholes or slots, as s', in the adjacent faces ofthe sprocket-wheels@ and q. lVhile the clutch fr is freely slidable 0nthe hub d, it is rotary therewith, it being seated on a polygonalportion of said hub in a manner similar to theA part cl thereof. lVhenthe clutch fr is connected with wheel p, the hub, and consequently therear wheel (not shown) of the cycle, will be driven through said wheelp, which is coupled to the hub, and likewise the wheel q may be coupledto the hub, or both wheels p and g may run free on the hub by moving theclutch v to its ineffective position. (Shown in Fig. l.) The wheelsp andq may be driven by some suitable form of mechanism which I do not deemnecessary to show.

I will now describe a simple mechanism for shifting the clutch r.

A disk is shown atj, it having an annular iiange fi, hereinafter moreparticularly described. Said disk is shown as fixed, it beingconveniently secured in place by being threaded onto the cone g, whichin turn is threaded onto the axle c and engaged by the nut 7i on saidaxle.

A casing fm is shown as slidable against the inner face of the annularflange t', it hav- ICO ing a flange n. The wheelffits in the casing 'mand slides on the polygonal portion CZ of the hub CZ, and this wheel isperipherally grooved. The flange n is removable, it being held in placeagainst the body of the casing m by set-screws Zr', and it and said bodytherein have complemental portions of a runway or groove to receive theballs o, which travel in the peripheral groove in the wheelf. As theflange n is removable the balls can be readily put into position bytaking the same off. The balls o serve their usual function, that ofreducing friction being the rotating wheclf and non-rotating casing on,besides serving as -a suitable connection between these parts, wherebywhen the casing m is moved sidewise acorrespond.- ing motion through theintermediate balls will be imparted to the wheelf, the latter throughintermediate means serving to actuate the clutch 7^.

The casing m has a peripheral series of pins xpassing through acorresponding member of diagonally arranged slots a in the flange t'.Said casing m has a button or projection, as Z, adapted to be connectedwith suitable hand-actuated means (not shown) by which to turn thecasing m in the ilange t', and as it turns it will be caused to movesidewise, by reason of its pin-and-slot-connection with the flange tothereby correspondingly actuate the wheel f, so that the latter can beslid into or out of engagement with either of the wheels p and q or putinto its intermediate position, the slots a being made long enoughandbeing so disposed as to secure these results. A plurality of rods areshown at e, these passing through suitable holes in the hub inside thesprocket-wheels and being connected, respectively,with the wheel f andclutch 7'.

By moving the clutch 7' sidewise through the agency of the mechanismhereinbefore described either of the spocket-wheels may be connected tothe hub CZ, or when said clutch is in its intermediate position saidsprocketwheels will run idle on the hub, whereby a rider of the cycleprovided with the improvements herein described may coast. The wheels pand q are shown as being of different sizes',whereby through suitablesprocketgearing (not shown) the hub CZ, and consequently the wheelconnected therewith, may be driven at a variable speed.

In Figs. 5 and 6 the hub cZZis shown as having but one sprocket-wheel,(denoted by q.) In the censtruction shown in these gures I havedesignated parts similar to those hereinbefore described withprime-marks. The wheel f disk j, and casing m are constructed and coactprecisely like the other parts previously described, except that theclutch means are mounted directly on said Wheelf/ and consist of aplurality of pins s, adapted to enter holes s in the adjacent face ofthe sprocket-wheelq. Theclutchingmeanstherefore forms a part of thewheelf, and when the latter is moved sidewise in the proper direction bythe turning of the casingm the teeth or pins s enter the holes s in thesprocketwheel q', as shown in Fig. 6, so as to connect saidsprocket-wheel with its hub. Outward movement from the position shown inFig. 6 on the part of the wheelf will uncouple the sprocket-wheel fromits hub, so that it may run Jfree thereon, as indicated in Fig. 5.

The driving mechanism forms no part of the present invention. For thepurpose, however, of showing the mode of' operation of the clutchingmechanism I have illustrated it in the drawings, in connection, first,with two driving sprocket-wheels, and, second, with a single drivingsprocket-wheel.

The form of the clutching means, the manner of mounting the same on thehub, and other points in construction may be variously modified withinthe scope of the appended claims.

Having described the invention, I claiml.. In a device of the classspecified, a hub, a driving member rotative on said hub, a xed diskprovided with a flange having diagonal slots, a casing provided withpins entering the slots, a Wheel actuated by the casing, and

-means operative with said wheel for clutching said driving member tothe hub.

2. In a device of the class specified, a hub having a polygonal portion,a driving inember rotative on said hub, a fixed disk provided with aflange having diagonal slots, a casing surrounded by said flange andhaving pins entering the slots, a wheel slidable laterallyon saidpolygonal portion, and means for coupling said driving member to thehub, connected with said wheel.

3. In a device of the class specified, a hub, a driving member rotativeon said hub, a fixed disk provided with a flange having diagonal slots,a casing cooperative with the ange, and having a removable flange, awheel rotative with the hub, balls between said wheel and casing, andmeans for clutching said driving member to the hub, operative with saidwheel.

4. In a device of the class specified, a hub, driving members, bothrotative on said hub, a clutch member for said driving members rotativewith the hub and slidable thereon, a wheel rotative with the hub, rodsconnected respectively with said clutch member and wheel, and means forpositively operating said wheel sidewise.

In witness whereof I have signed this specication in the presence of twowitnesses.

ROBERT ALLEN CORDNER.

W'itnesses:

ALICE ELIZABETH CORDNER, ROBERT HENRY CORDNER.

IOO

IIO

